And the winner is … ! The 2022 Oscars are quickly approaching, and fans are already eager to see what the star-studded night will have in store.
Following the delayed 2021 ceremony amid the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s awards will recognize films released between March 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021. Voting concluded shortly before Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan announced the nominees on February 8.
The list of honorees for the 94th annual awards show features icons from Denzel Washington to first-time nominee Kirsten Dunst, who appeared alongside partner Jesse Plemons in The Power of the Dog. The couple welcomed sons Ennis and James in 2018 and 2021, respectively.
“To be honored by the Academy is a truly humbling experience. For both Jesse and I to get our first nominations together is beyond our wildest dreams,” the Bring It On star said of her and Plemons’ respective nominations for their supporting roles.
Along with the traditional nominations, the 2022 Oscars will give viewers the chance to celebrate the movies they loved most this year through the #OscarsFanFavorite contest. Twitter users can vote up to 20 times per day for their favorite film of the year and their favorite movie moment, both of which will be announced during the March broadcast.
“Twitter is the place to be during award shows and the Oscars is one of the biggest conversation drivers every year,” Sarah Rosen, the social platform’s head of U.S. entertainment and news partnerships, said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter in February. “The idea that a movie fan might see their tweet during the Oscars broadcast is pretty epic, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with the Academy to bring this to life.”
The campaign allows for movies who weren’t recognized by the Academy in an official capacity to have their special moment, from Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home to Netflix’s Tick Tick… Boom. While plenty of film fanatics were excited by the new idea, others weren’t as supportive.
“We already have the People’s Choice Awards, where everybody weighs in on it, people on Twitter and what have you. I think it’s enough,” Joy Behar said during an episode of The View after the contest was announced.
Cohost Ana Navarro agreed, confessing that she prefers the “snootiness” of the Oscars. “I don’t like it. … It’s gonna be all those bots,” she predicted. “I just think polls — Twitter polls, online polls — are too easily manipulated.”
Whoopi Goldberg, an Oscar winner and a member of the Academy, stressed that there’s a different level of expertise between fans and the voters. “We are voting on our particular knowledge,” she explained on the daytime show, adding, “We don’t ask the audience to do that because who’s got the attention span?”
Scroll down for everything to know so far about the 94th annual Academy Awards: